First, there are a few reasons why mail to some email addresses isn't delivered: ​

While you can't re-subscribe a member, you now can manually edit and/or restore invalid or bounced emails. When you open a "bounced" member's page on the new membership database you will see a "!" symbol by their email, along with the word "bounced" and a blue link "restore". Restoring the email will remove it from the bounced list so that it will be included once again in future sends. However, if the email bounces again, it will again be disabled and the "bounced" status will reappear in the member's contact page. ​

What are you waiting for?! Add your group now! 

Who is your target audience? Is it readers who are already customers? Suppliers? Employees? Once you know who you are sending your email newsletters to, you can focus on ways to grow your list. This includes giving away something for joining, promoting on social media or, if time is of the essence, purchasing a list.
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Once you know who you are sending your newsletters to, you’ll want to decide on a template that you can flip copy in and out of with each newsletter. This largely depends on the system you choose as each service has different constraints for your template design. You’ll want to make sure your template is optimized for mobile and reflects your brand’s overall look and feel.
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You want to make sure the content you’re sending out is diversified, relevant, and timely. The only way to do this strategically is to map out what you plan to say before you start saying it. Do you have new promotions? Upcoming events? Do you want to highlight an employee or new recipe? Create a content calendar with the frequency and topics of each of your newsletter campaigns at least one or two months out, before you launch, to make sure you’re producing relevant content that tells a story.
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If your subject line doesn’t grab your reader’s attention, they won’t open it. Include a hook with a benefit. This hook will provide an impact if it answers a question or evokes an emotion. The more personalized and relevant your subject line, the better chance you have for someone to want to read your email. 
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No matter what your newsletter entails, it should always end with a call to action. Do you want your audience to purchase something, read something, or share on social media? Decide on one call to action per newsletter and make it easy for your readers to follow through with. Include phrases like “Click here to…” and don’t be afraid to mention it more than once within the email. Most readers won’t read the entire email, so don’t save it for last!
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​Just one typo or blurry image can change your reader’s attention and tarnish your credibility. Always test your newsletter to make sure everything works properly and nothing is spelled wrong. This last step can sometimes be the most important.

​You shouldn’t have to be a programmer to build a professional newsletter that you can be proud of. Some of these steps can be eliminated with a single, integrated email service such as memberplanet.

With memberplanet, you can choose a template and color palette and get your message out in minutes. Like what you’ve made? Save it as a custom template and use it over and over again. Want to see if your newsletter was effective? Our live reporting shows you how many people have opened your emails, who clicked on your links and tips on how to better reach your audience. Learn more today on how to get all the tools you need to effectively execute your newsletter campaign. 

As of April 4, 2014, users listing an @yahoo.com email address for their MemberPlanet “from” address will not be able to send email correspondence of any kind from their MemberPlanet account.

This is the result of a policy change at Yahoo designed to prevent spam coming from Yahoo addresses. This change applies to all 3rd party email service providers, not just MemberPlanet.

On April 23rd AOL made a similar policy change.

These policies applies to all email correspondence, including invitations and auto-responders you currently use on MemberPlanet.

MemberPlanet suggests that you replace your @yahoo or @aol.com addresses in the “from” field to an address that is specific to you or your business ex: yourname@yourbusiness.com. Having a unique email will better prevent servers from identifying your emails as spam.

If this isn’t an option at this time, use a different free email provider, such as gmail or hotmail.

Note: this only applies to MemberPlanet users who use a yahoo.com  or AOL.com address in the "from" field of email correspondence (email campaigns, event invitations, donation campaign announcements, etc). This does NOT prevent you from sending mail TO recipients with yahoo.com or AOL.com email addresses.

See yahoo's announcement for more information
Read more about AOL's policy change here

Do you know how to check who’s opening and reading your emails?  

Email tracking gives you real-time information on who has received the email, who has opened it, and who has clicked on your links within the email. It also shows Bounces (email address didn’t work!) and unsubscribes (recipient says ‘no thank you’ to future emails).

Here's how you can leverage the information:

1) A low open rate could mean a boring subject line.
The solution: Change the subject line to something more catchy and re-send it to the members who didn't open it the first time! (make sure you wait a few days before doing this)

2) People opened it, but they didn't click on your link!
The solution: Make the link more clear! Was it a text hyperlink? Make it a Button!

3) Emails Bounced
The solution: make sure you have accurate email addresses for the members who bounced. Look for obvious typos (example@gnail.com). This could also mean the recipient's inbox is full. Try resending the email later, or reach out to them about using a different address. 

4) High rate of Unsubscribes
The solution: Make sure your email is adding value to your recipients. If recipients don't feel they are being served by your correspondence, they will unsubscribe. Remember, no matter how great your message or offer is, if you don't effectively communicate that value, people will unsubscribe.

Curious about how your last email did? Find all this information and more on the Email Campaign Admin Page!